What He Can't Say
by WarriorGaurdian
Summary: 26 years ago, when Don is 9, his life change forever. 26 years, 13 letters, 0 words, 1 full circle


Disclaimer: I don't own, (Only if...) None of the characters are mine, (Darn,) No money gained. (That would be nice.)

A/N: I will get back to Possible ASAP. But for now here is a AU story.

Not Beta-ed. All mistake are mine. I don't think I made to many. My medical diagnostics probably won't be correct.

* * *

_26 years ago: _

Don and Charlie sit in the back seat coming back from Don's baseball game. 4-year-old Charlie is gabbering on and on about stuff lost on Don. Don throws his baseball into his glove, satisfied at the solid thump.

Margret smiles from the driver's seat, happy that her two boys are getting along so well.

In the next minute everything is over.

Don opened his mouth to ask his mom if they can stop for ice cream. The words never leave his mouth.

There was a long honk, a screech of tires on the pavement and a crunch of metal. Don doesn't have time to scream before everything went dark.

Don opens his eyes, his body protesting at every movement. There's a friendly face hovering over him. His mouth is moving but Don can't hear it. He's put down on a stretcher. The blue sky is over him. There is a bird flying across his vision. It's a robin.

The robin flies away and Don blacks out.

* * *

Next time Don wakes up, he's in a hospital. He turns his head. Charlie jumps up off his chair.

"Don, you're awake!" Charlie yells. He ran out of the room. Don is confused. What's happening?

Charlie comes back with their mom and dad. His mom throws her arms around Don. "Don. You're alright." She sobs.

Don nodded, still slightly confused. _What happened? _He attempts to ask but his voice is absent. He clears his throat and tries again with no result.

A doctor walks in and introduces himself as Dr. Karieshot. He examines Don. Then he tells his family what he knows.

Don was traumatized in the crash. His vocal chords were damaged, so were parts of his brain, and will make it impossible for him to speak. Ever again.

Don cries for the longest time. Now he can't talk. Charlie pats his knee.

"It'll be okay." Charlie says, "Don't worry Don."

Don smiles through his tears. _Thank you Charlie. _He wants to say, but it doesn't come out.

* * *

_9 years later: _

Don is waiting for Charlie to go to their high school formal.

"Hey Don." Charlie walks in. "I have a question."

_Does it have anything to do with your tie? _ Don signs. Charlie laughs and let Don help him with his tie. _So what's your question? _

"If you hadn't lost your voice, what would you have done for a living?" Charlie asks.

_Baseball. _Don says easily.

"Are you sure?" Charlie asks.

Don hesitated. _No I want to be an FBI agent._

* * *

_9 years later: _

Don usually is at the library. He can be quiet without worrying.

It was a Tuesday that everything changes.

Don quietly reads a book when a young woman comes into the library. His mouth falls open. Don is immediately in love.

She comes nearly every day, always at 2:00.

One day, Don picks up the courage to talk to her. She looks up as Don stands beside her. Her blue eyes are bright, contrast to her dark brown hair.

"Hello," She says. "May I help you?"

Don, unable to speak, hands her a plain card. She reads it.

_Hi. My name is Don. _

She smiles. "Robin. My name is Robin."

Don smiles back.

_I like your name. _He signs.

"Thank you." She says. "I like yours too."

_You understand?_ He asks.

She smiles. "Maybe." She pulls out a card and hands it to him. "Come over tonight, 7:00, we can talk about it."

Don nods. She collects her stuff and heads out the library.

At seven o'clock, Don knocks on Robin's door. Robin answers it right away.

"Hello Don." She says.

Don waves hello and she shows him in.

They talk for the next two hours learning about each other.

Don likes Robin, she doesn't mind that he can't speak. Their conversation is slightly garbled at sometimes. But Don brings his laptop to relay anything that Robin doesn't understand.

When it's time for Don to leave, she shows him to the door.

Don kisses her on the cheek. Robin smiles at him.

"Maybe you and I can go out for dinner this Friday." Robin says.

Don nods enthusiastically.

"Good night Don." She says.

_Good night Robin. _Don signs. His smile says what he can't. Don walks down the walk.

Friday cannot come soon enough.

* * *

_7 years later: _

Don and Robin are still together.

One day Robin takes him to work.

Robin leads Don into the elevator.

_What are we doing here? _He asks. He can see that this is not the AUSA's office.

"I have a case and I need to talk to the agents on the case." Robin explains. "I also talked to Charlie. He told me that you wanted to be an FBI agent."

Don grunts. The elevator dings and Robin and Don get off.

"Hey Robin." A female agent meets them. "We're still working."

"Great." Robin says. "Megan this is my boyfriend, Don Eppes. Don this is Special Agent Megan Reeves."

Don smiles at her and shakes her hand.

"Hi." Megan says. "I've heard a lot about you from Robin."

Don looks at Robin. She smiles back at him.

"Well Megan. Show me what you got." Robin says. Megan nods and leads them through the bull-pit.

"Well Robin says that you wanted to be an FBI agent." Megan says.

Don blushes and nods. They reach a conference room.

"Hey Colby, David." Megan says. "This is Robin Brooks, the attorney I told you about, and this is Don Eppes, her boyfriend. Don, Robin, this is Special Agents Colby Granger and David Sinclair."

"Hey." Colby nods in a greeting. David shakes their hands.

"The numbers on this case is still giving me a headache." Colby groans. "I've gone through half of this list and there's still much more to go."

"We'll contact you once Colby finishes." Megan says.

"Thank you." Robin replies. She and the other agents start talking. Don looks at files on the edge of the table.

"Wait, Don." Colby says. "I'm sorry, you can't look at that." He reaches for the file, Don twists away still looking at it.

"Don." Robin says. Don looks up. He smiles and starts signing.

"What is he saying?" David asks.

Robin furrows her brow. "He's saying that he knows someone who can work on this."

"Who?" Colby asks.

"His younger brother, he's a math professor at CalSci," Robin translates. "His name is Charlie and he's a whiz with numbers."

"Okay." Megan says. "Do you think he will can help us?"

Don shrugs and nods at the same time.

"So which one?" Colby asks.

Don nods. He writes down Charlie's contact number. He hands it to David and signs something else.

"He says to tell Charlie he referred him to you." Robin says.

Don nods.

"Okay," Megan says. "I'll take this and Colby get back to the numbers. Thanks Don."

Don's smile broadens. _You're welcome. _He signs.

* * *

_Two months later: _

Robin finishes her case with the bank account numbers that Charlie helped with. Don and Robin invite Megan, Colby, David and Charlie out for dinner. Charlie can't come. He's out with Amita.

Robin and Don sits in the front seat and Megan, Colby and David sit in the back.

"Robin, you really don't have to do this." Megan says for the tenth time.

"I fell like I have too." Robin says. "Anyways, Don really likes listening to your FBI stories."

Don playfully punches Robin.

"If you like our cases you should listen to this one." Colby immediately launches into a case the closed a few weeks ago.

Don is happy. He settles back in his chair, something he usually doesn't do in the car.

Then the peaceful moment is shattered. A truck slams into the side of the car making it flip once, twice and three times before skidding to a stop.

Don shakes the darkness and dizziness from his vision. There is something in his ribs making it difficult to breath. Someone reaches in and pulls him out of the car. Megan's face appears above Don.

"Don." Megan calls. "Can you hear me?"

Don slowly nods. He raises his hand and finger spells a name.

R-O-B-I-N

"Robin?" Megan guesses. "David is getting her right now."

Don turns his head to the side. He sees Colby lying on his back. The young agent is obviously unconscious, a small trail of blood trickles from a wound on his forehead. Don watches in as David comes around the wreak of the car. Robin is limp in David's sturdy arms.

Don lurches unsteadily to his feet, ignoring Megan's protests. He quickly closes the gap between him and Robin.

David sees how much Don needs Robin and hands her to him. Don sinks to his knees, carefully cradling Robin in his arms. He can see she's alive, but he is still unwilling to let her go. Don rocks back and forth, tears spilling from her eyes.

Robin. Robin.

An ambulance comes and Megan and David gently pry Robin from Don's arms.

Don sits back on his heels, numbly.

"Don, are you okay?" Megan asks.

He nods, his breath catching in his throat. Every breath is becoming increasingly hard to breath. He coughs, warms salty liquid sprays from his mouth.

"Don?" Megan asks again.

He reaches up to his chest and his hand comes away bloody. The world tips around him dangerously and he's lying on the asphalt before he knows it.

The sky. It's the same shade of blue as the day he first lost his voice.

Where's that robin that flew across the sky?

Robin…

Don fades away.

* * *

There is a vague heaviness in his chest. Don opens his eyes.

"Don."

He turns his head. Charlie is sitting in a chair beside his bed.

_Charlie, _Don signs. _Where's Robin? Is she okay? _

"Robin is fine Don." Charlie says.

_How about Colby? And Megan and David? _

"They are fine too Don." Charlie says. "Colby has a mild concussion, but all of them are fine. Are you okay?"

Don shrugs. There is a dull ache in his chest. He raises his hand and finds a stark line of stitches on the right side.

_What happened? _Don asks. Charlie takes Don's hand.

"You were in a car crash Don." Charlie explains. "The window shattered. A piece caught you in the chest."

_Will I be okay? _Don asks slightly alarmed.

Charlie hesitates. "The wound became infected." Charlie says quietly. "The doctors aren't hopeful."

Don gets what Charlie isn't saying. He feels tears coming.

Robin comes into the room. She is just as beautiful as the day Don first saw her at the library. This is enough to send Don into tears. Don reaches out for her. Robin holds him until the tears dry up.

Don is dying, he knows nothing can stop it.

* * *

Every day, Don is finding it more difficult to breath. He doesn't want a chest tube, so he has an oxygen mask.

Robin stays by his side every moment.

It's late at night and Don wants to talk to Robin. He barely manages to nudge her. He can't make his hand move.

Don opens his mouth and pours all his concentration and energy into what he does next.

"Hi, My name is Don."

Robin gasps and laughs. Don smiles weakly behind his oxygen mask. He did it. He talked. His voice is rough and breaks every few syllables but he talked.

"Hi. My name is Robin." She whispers.

Don smiles. "Rah… bin. Robin…" he says aloud. "That's a nice name."

"Thank you." Robin says. "I like yours too."

Don closes his eyes happily. Tears are falling down both of their faces.

"I," Don takes a shallow breath. "I love you Robin."

Robin leans down and kisses him. "I love you too Don."

"Stay…with…me?" Don whispers weakly.

"I'll stay." Robin reassures him. "I'm right here."

Don smiles. His smile expresses what he can't say.

He's tiered now. Each breath is slower than the last. Each one is pulling him down into darkness.

_Mom, are you there?_

_I'm here sweetie._

Don wants nothing more than fall into her arms but something makes him hesitate. There's someone calling him in the distance.

It's Robin calling his name.

"Don. Open your eyes!"

He tries. He really does. But he can't.

So he forces his hand to move.

_I L-O-V-E Y-O-U R-O-B-I-N. _

It's 10:23pm. There are things Don Eppes never got to say.

And now he never can.

* * *

__A/N: I'm sorry. I killed Don too! I'll post a happier story later. Please Review. I love all of them.


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